An unexpected treat!

Sophie and I went to Market Harborough today after spending some of the morning watching Saturday Morning Kitchen, where the great Bob Mortimer was the guest celebrity.

I was allowed to drive Olive and we parked easily before walking into the town and stopping for a coffee at a café we'd never been to before, Two Old Goats. I said to Sophie that I'm an old goat, being a Capricorn, and we had a lovely coffee sitting outside.

Sophie stopped a woman who was walking past with her baby in a pram to say how much she loved her white dress, and it was indeed beautiful. The woman seemed happy to chat and said the dress was from ME+EM, a brand both of us recognised, and which was worn by the wife of our current PM.

After our coffee, we did the rounds of the charity shops and Sophie bought an array of lovely tops. She always gets lucky! I bought two candles and a book for Keith!

At 2pm we had a lunchtime reservation at Casa Nostra and sat in the window. We ordered chicken tenders and garlic bread to start, followed by a spicy chicken pizza and a bowl of French fries to share. I was astounded at the price of a glass of Rosé which was £9, so we had an Aperol Spritz each instead. The prices of drinks are getting silly now, and it's no wonder pubs are going bust left, right and centre!

We managed to find room for pud and we both chose panna cotta, which was delicious!

I love creamy desserts!

We paid the bill and decided to shop a little longer, visiting Waterstones where Sophie bought a book. My daughter is now an avid reader, which is fantastic, and I love recommending books for her to read. She bought A.S. Byatt's Possession which I read years ago almost in one sitting!

We returned to the car and I suggested going to Lamport Hall where an art exhibition was starting at 4pm. We drove back and joined a queue of cars all heading into the parkland. We didn't know what to expect; I'd had a notification on Facebook about the event and it looked interesting.

We parked the car and joined throngs of people walking into the stableyard of the stately home. Before we went in we were asked if we wanted a free glass of Prosecco? Er, definitely!

The stables at Lamport are beautiful and regular craft and antique fairs are held there. The art exhibition starts properly tomorrow and lasts until the 29th of September. We had stumbled upon the launch which was free to everybody and included the free fizz and nibbles. What an unexpected treat!

We strolled around sipping our fizz and admiring some of the beautiful works on display. There were paintings, jewellery, pottery, furniture and outdoor sculpture, and I saw the most gorgeous upcycled cocktail cabinet that ticked every box for me, except it was priced at £995!

Cheers to art!

I saw two beautiful photographs of local scenes that I was tempted to buy, but maybe we will come back and have another look before the exhibition ends. Obviously, we weren't tempted by the food on offer and after nearly an hour of looking around, we made our way back to the car admiring Lamport Hall itself.

One of the outdoor sculptures

Back home, Sophie pootled about and washed her new tops. We both enjoyed French Martinis and I suggested watching an 80s thriller. Keith made himself dinner and sat in the kitchen while we chose. I'd made a list of suggestions but the one we chose wasn't available anywhere, so Sophie said she'd love to see Jagged Edge again. Well, anything with Jeff Bridges in is fine with me, so we watched that! A great end to a lovely day!